I was pretty happy with my original iPhone, and since AT&T’s 3G network doesn’t even cover near my area, I’ve held out on upgrading so far. But since everyone is convinced there will be a new iPhone to go with the 3.0 OS release this June, I thought it wise to sell my original iPhone while there was still some value in it, and switch to the 3G. Also, I desperately wanted GPS.

Briefly,

It’s faster. Everything is faster. Launching apps, Mail, Safari browsing, the Phone app — everything. It’s still a 412MHz CPU, but something is different. Network transfer over EDGE is somehow faster than the original iPhone over EDGE. And I dare say even WiFi speeds are faster. I don’t know how exactly or what’s changed, but everything — even syncing — is faster.

The screen is definitely warmer (more yellow tint), but it doesn’t bother nor please me one way or another. I appreciate the metal buttons and improved speaker. In fact, it’s more than twice as loud as the previous iPhone without any distortion. It’s actually feasible to just set the iPhone 3G in front of you playing music while driving, if you don’t mind mono. This is great especially for speakerphone, which I use often to check bank accounts while driving.

The audio jack is standard 3.5mm with none of that recessed bullshit. The way it should have been all along.

The GPS is no small upgrade. It turns Maps into a completely new app. It goes from being a reference tool to becoming a real, live, interactivity tool about you.

And the biggie for me is the case design. I’m a huge fan of the original iPhone’s anodized aluminum case. Sure it bothered me that the antenna section took up the lower quarter and that meant a physical break in material design, and it was so darn smooth that sometimes it was hard to grip, but it looked stellar and right at home with a MacBook Pro.

The new plastic black (most people have black) is definitely better feeling in your hand. It’s not as slippery, and the more tapered edges mean that the part that actually contacts your fingers is thinner, providing for a subtle illusion of being thinner — even though overall, the iPhone 3G is slightly thicker than it’s predecessor. And one solid back piece does — in that regard — look better than 3/4 metal and 1/4 plastic. For a device that is held so often, this is a good tradeoff over the old design. But I sure wish it felt exactly like the new one while looking exactly like the old one (minus the physical break).